My invention relates to a portable, safety, play furniture assembly and, more particularly to such an assembly having a closed, concave, preferably cylindrical, glass-like chair body for sliding support of a person reposed therein.
Various types of play structures or devices are known which include a cylindrical body within which children may crawl, scramble or otherwise interactively play. In U.S. patent No. 3,730,522, issued May 1, 1973 to Paczkowski, a child's amusement toy is shown with a rocking base, a hollow center and circular holes or tunnels through which a child can crawl into and out of the center. An A-shaped playground climber is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,369,965, issued Jan. 25, 1983, to Ahrens to which cylindrical tubes, as well as a slide and climbing stairs, are attached. A brochure of Playscape Incorporated, dated Dec. 11, 1968, disclosed a segmented outdoor tube with openings for walking and playing in, and in the June 1983 issue of Popular Science at page 104 a swingset with playhouse is shown with an elongate cylindrical tunnel mounted on a hill. In both Sweets Architect Catalog, Section 2.15/mi, 1977 file, and in Miracle Recreation Equipment Catalog 773, copyright 1972, page 51, rotatable cylindrical bodies are shown within which a child may walk.
Other cylindrical or other tubular slides, tunnels and clamber toys in U.S. Pat. No. 2,170,935 issued Aug. 29, 1939 to Whiteley; 2,465,187 issued Mar. 22, 1949 to Barrabee; 3,928,701 issued Dec. 23, 1975 to Roehner; 3,497,024 issued Mar. 30, 1976 to Slater; 3,949,985 issued Apr. 13, 1976 to Stampfil; 4,379,551 issued Apr. 12, 1983 to Ahrens; Des. 244,556 issued May 31, 1977 to Burgess et al., Des. 269,104 issued May 24, 1983 to Brown; Des. 291,717 issued Sept. 1, 1987 to Brooks; and German Pat. No. 566,161 dated Sept. 15, 1975.
While these various playground toys appear to be useful for play, they generally lack the combined qualities of safety, portability, and small size needed for indoor use as a toy or as a child's chair.
I have discovered through observation of children, particularly those in age group 3-8, that they particularly enjoy sitting within relatively narrow arcuate, concave, closed structures which are sufficiently small that they can lie on their backs and slide around a smooth interior surface by pushing against the interior surface with their feet or by "walking" with their knees in a raised position to pull themselves along the cylindrical surface. In this way, they can both easily shift the position of their torso from horizontal to upright to head over heels through unorthodox methods of sliding which they enjoy. At the same time, it is observed that they enjoy reposing within a partially enclosed surface with respect to surfaces immediately in front of and above them but which are not so enclosed as to block light or peripheral vision.
The known structures discussed above fail to provide these capabilities. Many are too rough for sliding while others rotate to defeat sliding movement. Others of the known structures are elevated off the ground and they create a risk of injury, while still others present safety problems due to possible tipping or due to crevices into which a child's limb or neck can become wedged.